Prior to his SOTU, it was reported Obama would mention gun control. He didn’t, although he did preface his speech with a tribute to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the wounded Arizona representative who has become a poster child for professional gun-grabbers.

Earlier this week, legendary gun-grabber New York mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a strict national background check system and additional restrictions on gun shows.

“President Obama tonight failed to challenge old assumptions on the need for, and political possibilities of, reducing the gun violence – which he suggested should be done two weeks ago in Tucson,” complained Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation’s largest anti-Second Amendment group.

Now administration officials say Obama will address the issue soon. In the next two weeks, Newsweek reports, the White House will unveil a brand spanking new gun control effort designed to strengthen previous anti-Second Amendment laws on the books.

The Obama White House will use the mentally deranged accused Giffords shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, to push for background checks, although in order to avoid the impression that Obama is exploiting the Arizona shooting for political gain the White House will dedicate a separate speech to the issue.

Obama’s handlers expect increased activity on the issue of background checks soon. “It’s a very important issue, and one I know there’s going to be debate about on the Hill,” Obama adviser David Plouffe told NBC News.

The NRA has remained suspiciously silent on Obama’s plan to move on the Second Amendment in the coming weeks.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

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In the past, the NRA has teamed up with Democrats to pass gun control legislation. For instance, in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, the NRA worked with notorious gun-grabber Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y. to pass a background check bill.

Last year, McCarthy introduced The No Fly, No Buy Act (H.R. 2401), a bill that will merge the TSA’s no-fly list with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a point-of-sale system for determining eligibility to purchase a firearm in the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico. It was created in November of 1993 when the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act), Public Law 103-159, was signed into law. Permanent provisions of the Brady Act went into effect on November 30, 1998, and required the U.S. Attorney General to establish NICS.